The present invention generally relates to the reconditioning or custom painting of an automotive road wheel while the wheel remains attached to an automobile and while the wheel has a tire mounted thereon. More particularly, the invention pertains to a compact and portable workstation that enhances a technician's ability to recondition such wheel as well as to methods for reconditioning the wheel using such workstation.
Automotive road wheels are easily damaged such as for example by contact with a curb during parking maneuvers, incompatibility with automatic carwash equipment or by the careless mounting or dismounting of a tire. While the damage that results is usually not structural it is nonetheless unsightly and detracts from the overall appearance and potentially the value of the vehicle. A demand therefore exists for the ability to relatively quickly and easily repair such damage. Obviating the need to dismount the wheel from the vehicle, let alone the tire from the wheel, substantially reduces the amount of time and labor involved.
The reconditioning of a damaged wheel typically requires the damaged area to be ground down, blended into the adjacent areas and then refinished which may require the polishing or painting of the wheel. Paining in turn may in turn require the sequential application of any of various materials such as for example primers, adhesion promoters, color coats and possibly clear coats. The various tools that must be brought to bear against the wheel to perform such operations often require a certain orientation between tool and wheel so as to optimize the desired effect and it is typically more efficient and effective to bring the wheel into position relative to the tool rather than vice versa.
Additionally, since repair technicians tend to travel to various jobsites rather than to operate out of a fixed repair facility, it is most desirable for the various tools and equipment that are needed to be assembled in a compact and easily transportable form that allows for quick and easy set up as well as restowing. Additionally, it is most desirable for all of the tools and materials that are needed to be arrayed in an organized, readily accessible fashion so as to enable the technician to effect the repair as quickly and easily as possible.
A need therefore exists for a reconditioning station that can simultaneously serve all of these needs. Such station should readily avail all of the tools and materials that may be needed by a technician to grind, polish, clean and refinish a damaged section of a wheel. Moreover, the station should facilitate the reconditioning of a wheel while such wheel remains attached to a vehicle and while a tire remains mounted thereto by enabling a technician to control the rotational orientation of the wheel while leaving the technician's hands free to manipulate any of the various tools that are used in the reconditioning process. Finally, the reconditioning station should be compact so as to be readily portable yet quickly deployable upon arrival at a jobsite.